BLACK Market

When money is tight people start looking around for bargains. That's good news for black marketeers and illicit traders. Europe's black market economy is expected to grow this year while the legitimate market stays mired in the recession. The highest growth is expected in Ireland, Britain and and Spain according to researchers from at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria. They predict a 0.8 to 0.9 per cent growth after 15 years of decline while the mainstream economy will decline by at least 2 per cent.
The Irish government realised the power of the black market with the relatively modest 25 cent increase on a packet of 20 cigarettes in the recent budget. Calls for a €2 rise were ignored because it would have been a licence for the smugglers to print money. Only Norway has higher tobacco prices than Ireland. In 2006 Irish customs seized 17.5 million worth of contraband cigarettes. That rose to 25.6 million in 2007 and then to 54.4 million in 2008. The tobacco industry claims 20 per cent of cigarettes smoked in Ireland are contraband, costing the State €500 million in lost revenue. Some consignments are brought duty-paid from other EU countries where prices are cheaper. Others, however, are sourced from counterfeit manufacturers in China, which obviously pose potentially serious health risks.